Republican candidates for attorney general release commercials ahead of primary

With a week before the primary election, Republican candidates for attorney general are running positive campaign commercials and trying to turnout supporters.

State Sen. Whitney Westerfield released his first ad of the campaign titled “A Fresh Start” on Tuesday. The ad for Westerfield promotes his position as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and his work on the heroin problem in Kentucky.

“Whitney’s led efforts to combat heroin abuse and strengthen laws against domestic violence,” a narrator says in the ad.

Westerfield’s commercial is running on broadcast on all four stations in Louisville and CBS and NBC affiliates in the Lexington media market.

Heading into the final weeks, Westerfield has $49,216 in his campaign account, according to a report filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. Westerfield has only raised $550 since his 32-day, pre-primary report was filed.

Hogan is promoting a 30-second commercial on his Facebook page, but it is unclear where the ads are running.

A review of FCC files shows that Hogan has not purchased broadcast time among the leading stations in Bowling Green, Charleston, W.Va., Lexington and Louisville. Hogan’s campaign did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the ad.

In the spot, Hogan highlights coal and President Barack Obama as reasons to elect him to the office.

“As your attorney general I will stand up to President Obama’s war on coal and fight against healthcare regulations that put our Kentucky jobs at risk,” Hogan says in the ad.

Hogan has loaned his campaign some cash in the 15-day, pre-primary report filed with KREF, but has less than $1,500 in the bank for the final week of the campaign.

Nick Storm

Nick Storm is the Anchor and Managing Editor of Pure Politics available exclusively on Spectrum News. Pure Politics is the only nightly program dedicated to Kentucky politics. Nick covers all of the political heavyweights and his investigative work brings to light issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, like his coverage of the backlog of DNA rape kits waiting to be tested in Kentucky. Nick is also working on a feature length bio documentary Outlaw Poet: A documentary on Ron Whitehead. Pure Politics airs weeknight at 7 and 11:30 on Spectrum News. Follow Nick on Twitter @NStorm_Politics. Nick can be reached at 502-792-1107 or nicholas.storm@charter.com.